Or, the dive that wasn't.
Skip Chappell and I left Williamsburg this morning at just after 5am to meet several people in Nags Head to dive The Huron. Skip and I got there early and decided to have breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the dive site and waited. As we waited the current built and the breakers got higher.
Everyone finally arrived and we suited up. I had my 7mm suit and I was hot. I was hoping the water would cool me off. We went out to the beach and entered the water. Don Burke from Chesapeake was already way past the breakers and heading for the wreck. The two young guys, Gary and his buddy (sorry, I can't remember your name) were right behind him and then it was Skip and me. We got out past the breakers, but by then we were exhausted and the current was taking us South. My tank had come loose and since I wasn't familiar with this BC (a rental) I didn't figure out that it was lose for a bit. Anyway, by the time I figured it out, I decided to call the dive. By this time, Steve was there and helped me get in through the breakers with my tank hanging. Then Steve went out to continue the dive with Skip. Steve's tank came loose and he had to come in to get it back on his BC. He got rolled around a bit in the sand and both his primary and octo began to free flow. Steve got the sand out of them and finally got back in the water and headed out. While this was going on, Skip was pushed pretty far South by the current. I thought he had gotten to the wreck, but he was so far down the beach, I didn't see him. The current had increased a lot by this time. Skip called his dive and came in while I was taking my gear to the showers and cleaning it up. I went back out to see where everyone was and Skip yelled for me. He was waiting under someone's canopy and resting. So, I helped Skip back up to the parking lot where the shower was.
The other guys were able to dive, but the viz was around 2 ft and they were exhausted and decided to not go to the Triangle Wrecks. Steve showed us where the Triangle Wrecks were and he stayed a while, we drove home. Steve may have dived the Triangle Wrecks. Maybe he'll post a trip report on the other board.
Lessons Learned:
1) Next time, go early and get in the water before things pick up. I think we could have made the dive earlier. Maybe not, because we are both worn out old men. But I think we could have.
2) We should have dropped to the bottom after we got past the breakers. The current would not have been so bad on the bottom. But with very low viz, we would have been popping up every once in a while to find the buoys for the wreck.
3) Make sure I am satisfied with the way the tank is attached to the BC. The BC was a rental and I was unfamiliar with the strap.
It was a beautiful day and I got wet, I didn't dive, but I got wet.